Jan. 29, 2003 – Offerings that are expected to be big draws at Sunday's fourth annual St. Thomas Synagogue Antique, Art and Collectibles Auction include not only traditional West Indian furniture but a St. Thomas painting by American Impressionist Guy Wiggins.
But before the weekend even arrives, the synagogue is conducting a "pre-auction auction" of a six-night vacation at "a magnificent beachfront home on St. John" with bidding through 4 p.m. Tuesday only.
According to the organizers, "the posh Peter Bay Beach House is available from Feb. 8 to 13, with checkout the morning of Feb. 14. It sleeps six to eight and has virtually everything you could need for a luxury vacation." To view the house, which rents for $20,000 a week in season, visit the Peter Bay Web site.
Bids on the Peter Bay vacation getaway only should be sent to by e-mail to Hebrew Congregation. "There is a very reasonable reserve on this remarkable gift," the organizers state.
Two previews precede auction
The weekend event takes place at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center. Previews will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday. Direct-sale tables also will open at 10 a.m. Sunday. The auction will begin promptly at noon Sunday and is expected to run until around 4 p.m.
The painting by Wiggins, titled "St. Thomas from My Studio Window, 1957," has been offered for the auction because of its historical significance to St. Thomas.
Owner Steve Hardee, who has a home on St. Croix, says: "I found the painting at an estate sale in Connecticut and fell for it because of my interest in Wiggins as an important American artist and my V.I. connections. I kept it at our Texas home for a while but felt it should be shown in the Virgin Islands. Having the painting on St. Croix did not seem right, so I decided to try and find it a home on St. Thomas."
Wiggins' work is in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art and the Chicago Art Institute. He was 20 when his first piece was put into the Met's permanent collection, the youngest artist then to be so honored.
Best known for his New York City snowscapes and Connecticut landscapes, Wiggins painted on St. Thomas in the late '50s, and the St. Thomas harbor scene to be auction is a part of that work. It measures 24" x 36" unframed and is being auctioned in a gold-leaf frame making the overall dimensions 32" x 42."
Wiggins' art has been auctioned in recent years at Christie's and Sotheby's, bringing purchase prices ranging from about $35,000 to more than $100,000. Hardee has put what the auction organizers term "a very reasonable reserve on his painting, which could make it a bargain purchase for a serious collector."
Sunday's other art offerings comprise about 30 works by Virgin Islands artists including paintings by Les Anderson, Kimberly Boulon, Julie Cassinelli, Susan Edwards, Michele Evans, Maria Henle, Edie Paljavcsik Johnson, Diane Kreiner, Madeleine Meehan, Brian Murphy, Shansi Miller and Lucinda Schutt; photography by Marc Blazar, Gary Felton, the late Fritz Henle, Tina Henle, Ray Miles, Jessica Rosenberg and Steve Simonsen; kinetic sculpture by Larry Lipsky; mosaic art by Lisa Crumrine and jewelry by Bernard Passman.
Other art works to be auctioned include photography by Annie Leibovitz, a small sculpture by Israeli artist Leore Levy, and three Haitian paintings dating back at least to the mid-'80s — by Telemaque Obin, Frantz Zepherin and Fortune Gerard; all of whom have works in major galleries throughout the world.
Two St. Thomas experts in West Indian antique furniture, Philip Sturm and Sean Krivatch, have collected items for that aspect of the auction. Sturm's pieces come primarily from Barbados; Krivatch's were collected largely in Guyana, where he worked for more than a year. What they have assembled complements the furniture, maps and collectibles from the estate of Amalia Mylner, a longtime member of the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas, that are the centerpiece of this year's auction.
The Mylner Estate offerings include more than a dozen pieces of furniture made on St. Thomas, many of them by noted joiner Harry Esannason, as well as large cabinets from Curacao and pieces such as Adirondack chairs and an old glider. Mylner's collectibles include a Seth Thomas clock, three old barometers, china items and two bronze bells.
Other collectors who have put furniture into the auction are Trudie and Neil Prior and George Dudley and Susan Lugo.
The direct-sale tables will include jewelry, china, crystal, vases, linens and other objects, including collectibles from the estate of Gertrude Lockhart Dudley Melchior and new works by master wood turner Avelino Samuel of St. John.
Admission to the auction on Sunday is a $10 donation to cover the cost of the catalog.
Bruce Wilson of St. Croix, who conducted last year's auction, will do so again this year Proxy bidding can be arranged in advance by calling the synagogue office at 774-4312; for anyone who must leave the auction early on Sunday, proxy arrangements may be made on site. Buyers will be able to arrange for trucking or off-island shipping of all items.
Food catered by Brian Katz of the Old Stone Farmhouse will be available.
Photographs of many of the items in this year's auction can be viewed on the St. Thomas Synagogue Web site.

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